Thread: synthetic oil consumption?

Ok. So It's been about 3 oil changes since I switched to full synthetic. I'm not sure if it's me or if anyone has had this problem before but, after maybe 2k miles of driving there seems to be alot less oil on the dip stick. Getting a reading when I do the oil change and i know I put 3qts of oil it's still hard to get a reading. It just isn't there. I never had this problem with conventional oil.

What mileage is on the motor right now?

Are there any signs externally of oil leaking?

Any faint wisps of smoke in the exhaust?

Had you run any sort of motor flush through the engine previously?


Synthetic generally does a good job at helping to keep the engine clean, so much so that it can remove old deposits that had been around various seals, and cause leaks from seals that had hardened, which is why usually it isn't recommended for higher mileage engines.

Synthetic is also more prone to consumption in some engines, so if there are no outward signs of oil loss, and you aren't seeing any signs of oil in your coolant, then you may just be experiencing higher consumption. I've read that some folks can see as much as a quart per 1000 miles after having switched to synthetic. Keep an eye on what you need to put in to bring the level back up to full (if you do any hard driving, you want to keep this level UP), and what miles you drove before filling it.

what brand/type of oil? If its Pennzoil platinum pure plus... its the oil. ask me how I know.

How do you know? I started using that on my sludge monster and maybe once the engine is cleaned, I haven't YET run into issues but would like to know since i was gonna change and go with ultra platinum after i've finished these two jugs I have left (changing oil at 1000miles to help with sludge) @zeneffect

because the pure plus is the only one the only oil ive used that has a higher consumption rate than "normal" (as in its the only one that consumes oil)

went through 2 changes with it, lost about a quart after 2500miles both times. no other synthetic oil I used does it and it hasn't done it since switching off of platinum pure plus. Ultra platinum is far superior and shouldn't have the same issue.

ahhh gotcha good to know. I won't reach that many Miles as I plan to do 1000 mile oil changes for a while lol

id try a cheaper oil like Valvoline max life synthetic blend. has great detergents... and is a higher quality oil imo.

a good place to start is to look up blackstone voa and uoa of whatever oil you are looking to buy then cross reference it with the 540 rat blog which keeps an up to date analysis of oils he has tested (last update was 5 days ago)

https://540ratblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/motor-oil-wear-test-ranking/

5w30 max life synthetic blend rates very high as far as wear protection.

engine is rebuilt and it has about 25k. no signs of oil leaks. no smoke from exhaust ,and no engine flush.

brand i use is Valvoline full synthetic 5w-30